beogkett



0., T. BROOKETT, T-hill-Goupling.

No. 226,032 Pafented Mar. 30, 1880.

WfEQS -S' es.- 172 Me 72/ 5072-, f&a I r i lLPEI'ERS, PHOTO-UTHOGRAFNER, WASHINGTON, D C.

IJNITED VTATES GLlNTON r. nnoonnrr, or BALTIMORE,

MARYLAND, AssIenoa or one- HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO GEORGE It. VIOKERS, JR, OF SAME PLACE.

T HlLL-COUPLlNG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 226,032, dated March 30, 1880.

Application filed January 22, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLINTON T. Baocxnr'r, of the city of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful lmprovement in Thin-Couplings, of which the followin g is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in that class of thill-couplings in which the bolt is secured from coming out by means of a feather on the bolt, which fits in a groove in the thill-iron.

My invention consists in the combination, with a feathered coupling-bolt, of the means, hereinafter described, for stopping the shaftiron when it is raised at a point where the groove in the shaft-iron will coincide with that in the jaws of the coupler.

The invention further consists in a special construction of the clip over the axle and the cars through which the bolt passes, whereby the latter are detachable from the clip, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a coupling. Fig. 2 is a top view of same. Fig. 3 shows the thilliron separate. Figs. at and 5 are side and end views of the bolt. Fig. 6 is a side view of a modification of the coupling. Fig. 7 is a top view of same, in which the axle-clip is shown bro- 3 ken on one side to expose the dovetail connec- The letter A designates the axle; B, a clip of ordinary construction; G, a plate secured to the clip, and with which the ears (1- of the 5 coupling are integral. Each ear is provided with ahole for the bolt, and in one of the ears the hole is grooved, as shown at e.

The thill-ironF has its eye f grooved, as shown at g, and the bolt H is provided with a feather, i, which extends along its central part a length equal to the width of the thilliron.

In this class of couplings the grooves in the thill-iron and in the ear of the quire to be so placed in their respective parts as to coincide with each other when the thill or shafts are raised to a point higher than would ever be possible when the horse or animal is attached. Now, I provide means for stopping the further elevation of the thill or shafts when the parts of the coupling are in the position at which the grooves are coincident. In Figs. 1 and 2 this stop consists of a cross-bar, a, secured on the upper side of and extending across between the two bars.

It will be seen that upon raising the thill or shafts the stop a will arrest this movement at the precise point where the grooves are coincident. Thus the stop enables apersouvery readily to insert or withdraw the feathered pin, and obviates the difficulty of repeated efforts to get the two parts of the coupling at the point where the grooves are coincident.

Figs. 6 and 7 show a modification of my stop, the thill-iron being provided on one or both sides, near the eye, with a lateral shoulder, 1), which projects over the ear, and on the upper side of the latter a notch or stop, a, is formed, by which the shoulder on the thill-. iron is arrested.

Figs. 6 and 7 also illustrate an improved additional means of attaching the ears of the coupler to the clip over the axle. One side of the clip has its edges beveled on the inner face, or that part next to the axle, as shown at g, and the part of the coupling-iron which abuts against the clip or axle has a dovetail groove in the vertical direction, adapted to receive the part of the clip having the beveled edges, as seen in Fig. 7. By this construction the ears of the coupling are made fast to the clip both by the plate 0 and the dovetail connection.

It will be noticed the eye f of the thill-iron is placed therein eccentrically, so that when the shaft is at its ordinary elevation the camshaped part will be brought against the rubber s in a manner readily understood, and thus rattling will be prevented.

' Having described my invention, 1 claim and 90 desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesv 1. The combination, in a thill-coupling, of a feathered coupling-bolt and a groove in the thill-iron and ear, so placed as to coincide, and 9 5 means, substantially as described, to stop the elevation of the thill-iron when the grooves are receive that part of the clip having beveled coincident, as set forth. edges.

2. In a thin-coupling, the combination, substantially as set forth, of a clip having verti- CLINTON BROCJKETT' 5 cal beveled edges g, and the part to which the Witnesses:

ears are attached provided with a dovetailed CHAS. B. MANN, groove in the vertical direction, adapted to JNo. T. MADDOX. 

